1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to manicure devices and, more particularly, is concerned with a nail instrument, for use on fingers and toes and in other applications, having emery cone and blade implements at opposite ends of the instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
People who have artificial nails on fingers and toes often end up with substances, such as glue and the like, which are used therewith on the undersides of the artificial nails. These substances trap dirt and other foreign material and often cannot be removed by washing or by use of a nail brush alone. Any buildup of such substances should be removed for both cosmetic and hygienic reasons. Care must be taken in the removal of the substances because the natural nails of the fingers and toes are exposed under the artificial nails.
Current methods for cleaning the undersides of and smoothing nails include the use of a drill or a tool for scraping the undersides. Problems exist, however, with these methods. The drill is noisy, cumbersome, creates an uncomfortable feeling and an odd smell, may be ineffective and may cause damage to the natural nails. Other scraping tools may have similar problems associated with them.
A variety of manicure devices which employ scraping actions and the like have been developed over the years. Representative examples of these manicure devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,040,446 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 1,629,967 to Rex, U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,849 to Bruninghaus, U.S. Pat. No. 1,956,627 to Roth, U.S. Pat. No. 2,035,323 to Langdon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,957 to Hokama, U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,013 to Hoover, Canadian Pat. No. 475,452 to Miller, French Pat. No. 52,887 to Walter-Martin and French Pat. No. 620,936 to Beck. These prior art manicure devices generally disclose an elongated handle and implements which are adapted to fit at one or both opposite ends of the handle. While these prior art devices appear to provide satisfactory solutions for the specific needs for which they are designed, none of them seem to provide an optimum solution for cleaning the undersides of and smoothing nails.
Consequently, a need still exists for a nail instrument which includes specific implements that provide a more effective solution for the aforementioned problem in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.